DBV: Dragonball Virtual
by Sanne-chan
Summary: Searching for new hardware... VR device found! Welcome to Dragonball Virtual, Player One! Please contact the helpdesk if you have any questions and remember to keep it fun! After all, it’s just a game... what could possibly go wrong?
1. Challenge Mode

**A/N:** My third fic on this website! Don't worry, I won't abandon the others. I just felt like starting something new. If the plot looks a little bit familiar, please read the AN at the bottom of the page. It explains everything, but it also contains spoilers for this chapter so I put it at the end.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Challenge Mode**

"Come on, come on… work with me here!"

With a frustrated growl, the girl desperately tried to get the car working. The owner had conveniently left the keys in the lock, but that wasn't going to do her much good if the engine refused to cooperate. She could almost hear the rusted contraption laughing at her as realised that her great plan for a quick getaway, was not really that great at all.

Wasting no further time, the girl jumped out of the vehicle and rushed inside an ally. Crouching down behind a dumpster, she tapped a small button on her scouter and opened a comlink to her team mate.

"Jake," she whispered while continuing to watch for any suspicious movements.

"Jake…. Jake, answer me you idiot!"

She tried several more times to contact him, but the only response she got was static.

"Dammit… that thing must've gotten him already," she sighed annoyed, as she closed the connection. "Guess it's up to me to find that last Dragonball."

Smirking, she looked at the small capsule case that was fastened with a strap on her upper left arm. It contained her entire inventory, allowing the girl to move around freely. Not that she had much on her, though, but she didn't have time restock now. Not with that creature hot on her tail, when she was this close to finally completing her mission! She and Jake had already found three Dragonballs each, so there was only one more left to go!

A warning message briefly appeared on her visor, alerting her to the fact that the scouter's power supply was running dangerously low. There was only enough energy left for one last ki-sweep.

"I knew I shouldn't have used that thing so much back at the airport," she muttered under her breath as she glanced at the small dragonradar, that was strapped on her wrist. It looked like a watch, but with a slightly larger display. A flashing green dot marked the approximate position of the starred balls that she needed to find quickly before the monster could track her down!

She bit her lip. The Dragonball was somewhere in a building not to far from her current position. However, she could not continue her stealth strategy of clinging to the walls, staying in the shadows and running from house to house. If she wanted to get there, she would eventually have to cross the street.

The girl sighed and used up the last of the scouter's power, for one final ki-sweep. Almost immediately, the results appeared on her visor. There were no other life forms present within a 200 meter radius. Sure, she could've saved power by scanning the area manually for a specific ki, but depending on the creature's whereabouts, that could've taken up to as much as twelve extra seconds. Considering the speed of that thing, even the blink of an eye felt like an eternity for those not blessed with a seven figure powerlevel.

She took a deep breath and made a mad dash for an abandoned school bus that was parked at the middle of the road. Hunched down behind one of the wheels, she glanced down the street to make sure the coast was still clear. The girl got up again and continued running from car to car, exposing herself as little as possible. About 15 seconds later, she had finally made it to the other side without being detected, but for some reason it didn't feel right. When she had tried to escape with that one car earlier, the creature had been closing in on her a few meters at a time. 130 meters…120 meters…110 meters… She clearly remembered the countdown flashing on her visor before she fled into the ally. Perhaps it had just been a coincidence, or maybe that thing had found a new prey to chase after, since it was not exactly known for its long attention span.

She quickly made her way over to the building and took another look at her wrist. The small dragonradar did not show her the exact position of the Dragonball, and to make matters worse, it only displayed two dimensions. It was not able to display height, which meant that she would literally have to search the building from top to bottom. Oh no… this was going to take her way too much time!

"Well, I've never gotten this far before, so I'm not going to back out now," she mumbled as she headed for the elevator. She decided that she was going to start at the top floor and then work her way down to the basement.

She stepped inside the cabin and felt the elevator ascending. Nervously tapping with her foot, she waited for the doors to open again, but when they did, she wished she had just taken the stairs instead.

With a startled yelp, she jumped back as the creature ripped the heavy metal doors out with his bare hands.

"Going somewhere?" It rasped, a smile creeping across his orange beak.

"Out of my way, bugboy!" the girl yelled as she quickly powered up an Masenko. With a loud cry, she threw the attack at his face but he easily dodged it. Fortunately, he was distracted for a few seconds, just enough time for her to dive underneath his arms and make a run for it.

"You don't seriously think you can get away from me, hmm?" the monster laughed as it suddenly whizzed past her and blocked her escape route.

"We'll see about that!" she retorted as she tried to deliver a flying kick to it's neck.

"Oh, please…" it mocked as it effortlessly grabbed her ankle in mid-air so fast that she didn't even realize what was happening until she was already dangling upside down.

"Game over, my dear," the creature purred as it's tail lashed out and the razor sharp tip plunged into her stomach…

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH! I WAS SO CLOSE!" 

Amy threw her VR-helmet against the wall and let out a disappointed yell as the words "Game Over" continued to flash on the computer screen. This was the eight time she had been absorbed by Cell and failed to complete the challenge. She had already saved Goku from Chi Chi's frying pan, finished repairing Vegeta's GR before sunset, baked thirty cakes for Majin Buu and even defeated the Ginyu force in an all-out posing contest. Yet, she just couldn't win the Stealth challenge and it annoyed her to no end.

Growling, she grabbed the phone and dialled the number of her team-mate.

"Jake, you moron! why didn't you answer my distress call!" she shouted angrily at her team-mate and lifelong friend. They had known each other since kindergarten, but for some reason that didn't seem so important right now. He was going to die!

"Sorry Amy," he answered meekly, "but Cell snuck up on me when I was finished recharging my scouter at a Sanctuary… weird huh?"

"He attacked you at a Sanctuary?" she asked in disbelieve, her anger turning into surprise. When you played DBV in Challenge Mode, all the main areas (like the HFIL, Kami's Lookout and most of the larger cities on Earth) had at least one secret Sanctuary guarded by Dende. It was always hidden very well, but if you did manage to find it, he would automatically recharge the player's scouter and restore him or her back to full health. Villains could not enter a Sanctuary and would simply walk away to find another unfortunate player to attack. It was very unusual for a Villain to simply sit down and wait for his target to exit!

"Yeah! He was hiding inside a tree and jumped me the minute I stepped outside!" he continued, with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"You sound happy," Amy remarked sarcastically.

"Well, don't you think it's awesome? It's about time the developers finally listen to the players and try to make DBV more realistic!"

"I suppose that's true," Amy agreed. She was still pissed because of her lost game, but she had to admit that more realism did sound appealing. She still remembered running from Dodoria the last time she played DBV in Saga Mode. The guy had followed her for exactly five minutes until she entered a Namekian village and hid in an empty hut. She was sure that 'Fatty' had seen her go inside, but the minute she had disappeared from his view, he had suddenly lost interest in her and went back to Frieza. The game itself was awesome, but the AI of some of the characters could indeed use work.

"Hey, why don't you come over to my place?" Jake interrupted her musing, "I have some old DVD's of the Cell Saga laying around here somewhere, maybe they'll give us an idea on how to beat that thing?"

"You get the android, I'll get the popcorn!" Amy grinned as she flipped the off switch on her computer and grabbed her jacket, never noticing the soft chuckle that came from her speakers and the piercing pink eyes that flashed on the screen for a split second before she closed the door…

* * *

**A/N:** Well, what do you guys think so far? Liked it? Hated it? Let me know! 

P.S. I was inspired to write this story after reading "Pokemon Online" by CrmsnLupine. My story will be nothing like his, except for the concept of an Anime turned into a virtual world people can actually visit. Still, I thought it would be nice to mention his story because it did spark this idea in my head.


	2. Server error

**A/N:** I was on a roll and wrote another chapter. Enjoy!

P.S: I made a slight change in chapter one: the Sanctuary is now guarded by Dende. Since he is a healer, I figured he would fit the part better.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Server error**

"Almost…got…it…!" Amy groaned while reaching for Android 17's lost bandana. A bird had taken it to it's nest in a tree and unfortunately, Amy was probably the worst climber of the Southern virtual hemisphere. That didn't stop her from trying, though. It was a bit of a childish challenge, but if she managed to complete it in less than 30 minutes, she would get 5000 zenni and a Mystery Prize! Zenni was the currency in the world of DBV and could be used to buy in-game objects like weaponry or a more advanced scouter model. The Mystery Prize could be anything from a new attack to a Capsule Case upgrade. Ami was hoping to earn enough zenni to buy some civilian clothing. All new players began their game dressed in a default long-sleeved black undershirt and a white gi with the DBV logo on the back. She hoped that once she got a customized outfit, she would blend in better with the environment, which could give her a much needed edge in the little cat-and-mouse game she and Cell had been playing since last week. A pair of jeans weren't going to give her a higher powerlevel, but at least she wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb anymore.

"WARK! WARK! WAAAAAAAARRRK!"

Amy rolled her eyes at the bird who had returned to defend it's nest. It was circling around the tree and tried to peck at her head.

"Hey, beat it!" she tried to wave the feathered menace away. "Shoo! Shoo!"

The bird, however, was determined to keep her from taking the bandana. It hovered in front of her and blocked her way to the nest. It lowered it's head while angrily flapping it's wings. To make matters worse, a bleep from her scouter told her that she had only 15 seconds left to complete the challenge.

"Ack! leave me alone, you overgrown parrot!" she growled. "Go bug Radditz in Saga Mode or something!"

Another sound caught her attention, but this time it did not come from her scouter.

_Creeeeaaaaaak…_

"Uh oh…" Amy gulped when she felt the thin branch slowly giving way under her weight. The bird almost seemed to smirk at her, a devilish gleam in it's dark beady eyes.

"No…" she whispered warningly, "no, no, no, no, no, no! Don't you dare land on that…"

With a loud wark, the bird sat down on the branch, causing it to snap in two. With a startled yell, Amy was sent plummeting towards the ground.

Fortunately, a player was only able to experience a certain amount of physical discomfort in DBV. The worst kind of pain that you could feel was like when you accidentally hit your knee against a desk or someone slammed a door on your fingers. This also meant that any injuries suffered during your 'super epic battle' against Dabura were only virtual and would vanish the minute you logged out.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…OOF!"

With a loud thud, she landed on a surprisingly soft surface.

"OWW! Amy get off me!" she heard a muffled voice yelling from underneath her.

"Jake?" she blinked after helping her friend up. "How did you get here? This isn't a multiplayer challenge!"

"No time, we need to hide!"

Without awaiting a response, he grabbed her hand and pulled her behind a large bush.

"Jake, what in the world is wrong with…"

He placed his hand over her mouth, and placed his index finger in front of his own as a sign that she needed to be quiet. Amy nodded slowly.

"What's going on?" she mouthed silently, but the answer to her question was already stomping and growling in front of their hiding place.

"KAKAROTTO!" the giant roared while smashing everything in it's path.

"What the hell is Brolly doing here?" she whispered. "You never told me you bought the movie expansion pack!"

"I didn't!" he whispered back. "I was trying to earn more zenni by picking up a couple of hentai magazines for Master Roshi, until that walking steroid over there suddenly appeared in the store and killed the cashier! When he saw me, I panicked and next thing you know… I was here!"

"Must be a server error or something," she mused.

"Yeah… maybe we should log out until the admins fix it"

"Are you kidding?" she smirked mischievously. "This is our chance to fight Brolly for free!"

"But we're in Challenge Mode!" Jake protested. "We don't have the same powerlevel as in Saga Mode! What are we going to do? Breathe him to death?"

"Oops, I forgot about that," she smiled sheepishly. "Well, if we can't battle him, then we'll just laugh and make weird faces instead!"

"I don't think it's a such good idea to go out there with zero armour and poke fun at a Legendary Super Saiyan…"

"Come on, you wimp! Where's your sense of humour? It's not like anything can hurt us here!" She grinned at him. "Virtual Reality, remember?"

Jake smiled at this. He had almost forgotten that the Big Bad Brolly was nothing more than a bunch of ones and zeroes. Then again, could you blame him? DBV was famous amongst gamers for it's amazing amount of realism. It had been one of the first Virtual Reality games that didn't make the player feel like he or she was trapped in their great-grandparent's computer. Unlike most of the older VR-games, DBZ had rich and vibrant colours and surround sound without the need of a clumsy (and expensive!) audio processor that took up half your living room. Round object were actually round and did not look like cubes with the corners chopped off.

The latest was due to the fact that the developers had not been fooling around with old-fashion polygons and cheap looking texture maps. If you stood eye to eye with Super Buu, you could actually see the pores in his skin and not just a bunch of bloated pink pixels. You could even smell the fresh air during your Dragonball hunt on New Namek, feel the pavement beneath your feet when walking on Snake Way and even taste Chi Chi's cooking at Gohan's birthday party. To make a long story short: the launch of the first version of DBV, marked the dawn of a new era in the history of Virtual Reality.

However, the special DBV VR-helmet that came with the game, was the real key. Instead of just sending signals to the eyes and ears like a regular VR-helmet, this model sent signals directly to the brain, making it possible to also fool the players senses into smelling, tasting and even feeling the digital environment. This kind of highly interactive gameplay was not only praised but also heavily criticised because unpleasant signals, like pain, were sent to the brain as well. Players were warned not to enter battles they knew they could not win, but accidents happened every now and then. When one player became severely traumatized after having his virtual arms ripped off by Nappa, a number of safety protocols had been installed, making it impossible to experience extreme pain. Some players argued that the limiting of 'discomfort' was ruining the realism of the game, but most players (and their parents) agreed that it was better to take certain precautions to ensure a safe and fun gaming environment for everyone. Jake and Amy both agreed. They were absolutely pro-realism, just not when an angry Super Saiyan (with poorly programmed linguistic abilities) was standing less than two meters away from them and not looking too happy.

"They say that some characters have a higher developed AI than others, but for some reason I wonder if Brolly has any kind of intelligence at all," Amy snickered as the Saiyan continued to thrash the field for no particular reason. Jake, however, was not really listening. Maybe his imagination was playing tricks on him, but he could've sworn he had just seen a shadowy blur moving behind the tree. Maybe he should let his scouter do a ki-sweep to be sure?

Nah… it was probably another glitch. Besides that, Amy always warned him that he seriously needed to stop worrying so much and 'chill out' every once in a while. If she caught him scanning shadows, he would never hear the end of it. Jake glanced at his lifelong friend who was grinning like a Cheshire cat, ready to pounce on her unsuspecting prey. It was no big secret that Cell did not rank high on her list of favourite DBZ characters, and she would definitely kill Jake if he told her that he sometimes spotted certain similarities between them. Suddenly, she jumped up and made a dash for the legendary Super Saiyan, but before she could do anything, he disappeared into thin air.

"Aww, man!" she exclaimed. "And I was just going to try and teach him how to ballroom dance!"

Jake couldn't help but fall over anime-style.

"You were going to try and teach Brolly to do…WHAT?"

"Come on, you know it would've been funny!"

"Yeah, getting turned inside out by a game glitch… hilarious…" he muttered under his breath. His friend rolled her eyes and threw her hand in the air.

"Really Jake, your acting like a total…" Amy trailed off when something else suddenly seemed to catch her attention.

"Hey," she started while turning her head to the tree, "did you hear something?"

"Amy," he whispered nervously while slowly moving away, "I _really_ think we should logout now and leave this to the mods!"

"Oh, alright," she finally sighed in defeat, "I've had enough VR for today… Computer, log out!"

"Hey, wait for…" Jake turned to Amy only to find that she was already gone. "Ooh, I hate it when she does that!" he groaned. "Well, this place is starting to give me the creeps… Computer, log out!"

Jake closed his eyes and smiled as he felt his mind being pulled back into the real world, blissfully unaware of the chaos that was about to ensue…


	3. An unwelcome visitor

**A/N:** A big hug for all of you who left a review! And to the anonymous person who didn't leave an e-mail address: I don't know the story 'dragon baal v' or it's author 'verto breifs'. However, if you meant to say 'Dragonball Verto' by 'Verto-Briefs', then you are right. We both use the abbreviation 'DBV', but it's just a coincidence. I sent him a message about it to make sure he's okay with it, but I don't think he'll kill me for it. I've heard rumours that you can get banned for that, you know… (shifty eyes)

* * *

**Chapter 3: An unwelcome visitor**

"Aaahh… it's been so long since I've played DBV in Saga Mode!" Amy smiled as she stretched her arms and took a deep breath. She loved the fresh air on planet Namek. For some odd reason, it always seemed like springtime there. However, this was no time to relax and smell the roses!

Her eyes narrowed and darted from left to right, scanning the area for any movements. Frieza had already clobbered her three times, preventing her from reaching the next level, but today she was determined to take that lizard down! After three weeks of earning zenni in Challenge Mode, Amy had finally been able to afford not only a customized outfit (not usable in Saga Mode), but also an armour upgrade. She could now take twice as much damage before she would lose consciousness and wake up at the latest Check-in Station, where she had previously saved her game. It was a good thing that the characters did not remember any contact they had with a player, or King Yemma would never stop laughing at her if she lost to Frieza again.

Yes, Check-in Stations, just like the Sanctuaries were positioned at key locations in the game. There was a difference, though: Sanctuaries were rare and hidden, while Check-in Stations were common and placed at strategic spots. If you entered one, King Yemma saved your game so you could continue at another time. They were usually found at the beginning of a level, but you could also encounter them just before entering a Boss Battle. When they played together, Jake always complained that Amy tended to get a little overexcited when she saw a Check-in Station, which usually resulted in both of them being blasted before they even made it to the doors. Oh well… at least _she_ had been able to attack Radditz without getting her foot stuck in his hair. Amy laughed when she remembered Jake's face as he stupidly tried to blast his way loose, which had resulted in a very angry Saiyan and probably the fastest 'Game Over' in the history of DBV.

"Come on Amy, there's plenty of time for that later," she said to herself. "Better find Frieza's ship… it's got to be here somewhere…"

She walked over the grassy plains of Namek and looked around in mild surprise. It was very quiet…

Too quiet…

"Where are all the Nameks?" she scratched her head in confusion. She had only made it to a very early point in the saga before getting killed herself, so there had to be at least a few of them left!

Amy shrugged and continued trekking towards Frieza's ship, running continuous Ki-sweeps of the environment. Neither him or his henchmen were able to mask their Ki, so the scouter gave her a slight advantage. In Challenge Mode, it was impossible for neither player or opponent to control their Ki, but this wasn't the case in Saga Mode. This unfortunately meant that the Ki locating function of scouter would be pretty much useless after the Trunks Saga, so Amy decided to enjoy it while she could.

"Hello? What have we here?"

Her eyes fell on a large, torn piece of sky blue fabric lying next to her feet. For some reason, it looked oddly familiar. She picked it up and examined it further. It looked like a large tablecloth… maybe someone had held a picnic?

Suddenly, it dawned on her: this wasn't just a piece of fabric… this was Zarbon's cape! She searched the ground and also found his boots and armour lying not far away.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed. "Vegeta hasn't fought him yet, so either my favourite character is running around naked or something is seriously wrong here!"

Amy dropped the cape and took a closer look at the armour. The back only seemed a bit scratched, but there was a huge hole in the front…

"Guess my 'birthday suit bishie' theory just went straight out the window," she stated with a frown on her face. She looked around, but saw no trace of a fight. Apparently, it was another glitch. It was strange, though. Due to the nature of the game, DBV had gone through years and years of rigorous testing before it was deemed safe enough to be shipped to the stores. The possibility of a single malfunction was almost nonexistent, let alone two if you also counted the Brolli incident!

Beginning to feel a bit uneasy, she rushed to Frieza's ship. The deafening silence was starting to freak her out and she needed to find someone… anyone! After 30 minutes of flying (and not caring if she showed up on their scouters) she finally found it. Amy landed on the grass and hurried inside the vessel. She let out a sigh of relieve when she heard the doors close behind her, but gasped when she turned around. Scattered throughout the corridors, were the uniforms of Frieza's henchmen, all with holes in them. It almost looked like…

'_Get a grip, Amy!'_ she scolded herself. _'You know very well that's not possible!'_

She gulped and slowly ventured deeper inside the vessel, careful not to trip over any armour.

"Yoohoo!" she shouted. "Frieza? Dodoria? Kewie? Anyone home?"

A squeaking noise suddenly caught her attention.

KT-CH! KT-CH!

It sounded like footsteps, and the owner was coming closer and closer!

KT-CH! KT-CH! KT-CH! KT-CH! KT-CH! KT-CH!

Amy whirled around and tried to get as far away as possible, but the sound bounced off the walls and appeared to be coming from everywhere. She kept running and running until she finally found Frieza's quarters. His chair was faced away from the door, and he didn't seem to notice her presence.

"Hey, you dumb lizard!" she began annoyed while walking over to the tyrant. "Maybe you haven't noticed yet, but Zarbon's been killed and the entire ship is…" when she reached his chair, she stopped ranting and her lips parted in a slight 'o'.

Frieza, the great ruler of the galaxy, had been reduced to nothing more than a pair of black briefs and armour with a hole in it.

"Oh fuck…" she whispered, while feeling the blood draining from her face. "Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!"

"There's no need to swear, my dear," a chilling voice suddenly rasped behind her. "It's very un-lady like"

* * *

**A/N:** (wearing a grey suit, holding pinkie against chin) Ooooh! Evil cliffy! I always wanted to do that, mhuahahaha! I will continue this story only for… one million dollars! (leans back in chair and strokes cat).

… What are you looking at? Don't make me fire my 'Laser'!

(for all of you who are now blinking at the above: yes, the authoress has definitely seen Austin Powers one too many times… but it's such a great movie!)


	4. Not just a glitch

**A/N:** I PASSED! I PASSED MY EXAMS! I'm so happy right now! My school even sent me a big purple flag with their logo and the line "Geslaagd!" (Dutch for "Passed!") that's now hanging just below my window. Now everyone can see that I'm officially a Graphical Designer. W00t! Anyway, that's enough bragging for now. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Not just a glitch**

Amy gulped, she knew that voice all too well. Slowly, she turned around and faced the creature.

"Uh oh," she mumbled, still not quite believing what she was seeing.

"You seem surprised to see me," it said mockingly.

"That's the third malfunction this week!" Amy exclaimed annoyed.

"Who are you talking to…?" Cell asked annoyed, but Amy kept going.

"First Jake pops up in the middle of my single-player Challenge, then Brolly decides to join the party," she threw her hands up in frustration, "and now characters from other saga's suddenly decide to drop by and say hello as well! Ooh, when this is over, I'm going to send in a bug report the size of a book!" she stopped ranting and grinned at the unintended pun. "BUG report… heeheehee!"

"Trust me, my dear," Cell rasped, "game glitches are the least of your concern"

Something's not right, Amy frowned. How did the android know what a glitch was?

"Oh, that's not all I know," he continued, as if reading her thoughts, "I recently learned that all of this is nothing but a little virtual playground, created for those who wish to temporarily escape their pitiful lives with the push of a button"

Whoa! Stop! Rewind! Amy thought to herself. Virtual or not, that thing is seriously starting to freak me out!

"Computer, log out!" she shouted, and closed her eyes. To her horror, nothing happened. When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't greeted by the familiar sight of her messy bedroom, and Cell was still watching her with a malicious grin on his face.

"Computer, log out!" she cried again, while staggering backwards in an attempt to put more space between her and the android.

"What's wrong, Amy?" he taunted. "You don't want to play anymore?"

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

"How the hell do you know my name!" she exclaimed. "characters aren't supposed to remember players… Or anything for that matter!"

She stumbled further away from the monster. She had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach that this was more than just a glitch. This…this creature… was acting… sentient!

"I assure you that my memory is functioning perfectly," he smirked.

"But… but I haven't ran into you before!" she panicked. "I never even made it past this saga!"

"It seems that you are the one with the failing memory," it snickered. "Don't tell me that after a few weeks, you have already forgotten all about our little cat-and-mouse games?"

Amy froze when the pieces of the puzzle finally fell in place.

"Challenge Mode…" she whispered. Her voice was shaky and she felt like she was going to pass out from sheer panic. How had he escaped? Why did it remember her? Why couldn't she log out? Amy sighed and took a few slow, deep breaths. When she felt like she had calmed down enough, she faced the monster and smirked.

"Look buddy, I don't know how the hell you got here, but you don't scare me that easily because you're still nothing more than a bunch of ones and zeroes! Go ahead, attack me! I'll just wake up at the nearest Check-In Station and reset my game!"

The android closed his eyes and chuckled.

"As you wish, my dear"

Amy wanted to roll her eyes at his mock politeness, but suddenly found herself being flung into the air like a rag doll. Before she even realised what was going on, Cell appeared above her and slammed her back into the floor. She jumped to her feet and saw the android firing a Kamehameha wave. Her instincts took over and she dived behind Frieza's chair, barely dodging the blast. She took a moment to inspect her armour. It had protected Amy when the android had send her flying, but it was damaged beyond repair. It made absolutely no sense! According to the players manual, "Challenge Mode Cell" was still in a relatively weak state, since he had only absorbed a few towns. The android was stronger than Frieza, but he still shouldn't have been able to get through her upgraded armour that easy!

"By the way," the monster purred. "Did I mention that the safety protocols are off-line?"

"That's impossible and you know it!" Amy yelled from behind the chair.

"No!" a familiar voice shouted. "Amy, he's not bluffing!"

She turned her head in the direction of the sound. There, in the doorway, stood a tall man. He wore the same black undershirt as normal players, but his gi was yellow instead of white. A moderator! And not just any …"

"Dad!" she called out. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to monitor the Buu Saga!"

"Quick Amy, get out of there!" he shouted. Worry was clearly visible on his face. Instantly realising that the situation was serious, she made a mad dash for her father. Unfortunately, Cell wasn't about to let his prey escape so easily.

"Special… Beam… CANNON!"

Amy tripped and fell to the floor, making the beam graze her left cheek. To her horror, it burned like hell! She gritted her teeth and fought back the tears that started to form in her eyes. This wasn't fun anymore! She wanted to log out, and she wanted to log out now!

"Dad, help me!" she cried in panic, reaching out for him. She was so scared and confused, that she had no idea what to do or how to even get up. Her limbs simple seemed to ignore any signals her brain send them. Amy was literally paralyzed with fear.

"I'm coming honey!" he yelled and glared murderously at the android. "FINAL FLASH!"

With an ear deafening explosion, Cell was sent crashing through the walls. The mod hurried over to his daughter and held her tight.

"Computer! Terminate current game session, authorisation code MOD3XY omega!"

* * *

**A/N: **Amy's dad is a mod! Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? Will they log out in time? How did Cell manage to escape Challenge Mode? And what does he want with Amy? Keep checking back to find out, and don't forget to review! 


	5. Just a monster in your closet

**A/N:** Here's a quick update before I leave on vacation. Enjoy!

By the way, You already know Saga and Challenge mode, but I'll introduce a new one now.

**World Mode:** when this is activated, you can walk around the DBZ universe freely. You don't have any powers (with the exception of the World Tournament arena, where you can challenge other players to a friendly match), but there are no enemies present. You also don't have to fight your way through a boss battle before entering a different area. You can go to Planet Namek to relax after a hard day at work, or visit the library at Orange Star High to study game tactics. You can take a stroll through West City and chat with other players, or make a quick stop at Capsule Corporation and spend the Zenni you earned in Challenge Mode on supplies, power-ups or attacks (it would be ridiculous to have players train for years!). If you pick the latter, you can test-drive your newly acquired skill in Vegeta's GR, or the Hyperbolic Time Chamber (advanced players only).

* * *

**Chapter 5: Just a monster in your closet.**

Amy squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth as she felt the familiar tugging sensation on her body, telling her that they were being pulled back into reality. It was a lot more intense this time, almost painful. It was like the program was trying to keep her from escaping. Suddenly, she couldn't feel her fathers embrace, or the cold, stone tiles under her feet. Instead, she found herself sprawled out rather ungracefully on the red carpet that covered her bedroom floor. She was back!

Amy jumped to her feet and took the VR-helmet of her head, throwing it onto her bed like it was a poisonous snake. A ringing sound caught her attention and almost tripping over her own feet, she hurried downstairs and answered the videophone. The face of her dad appeared on the screen, he looked very stressed. His tie was loose, his glasses were almost falling of his nose and his hair looked like he had just walked through a hurricane. In the background, you could see hundreds, if not thousands, of important looking people sitting in chairs, wearing VR-helmets with the DBV logo.

"Amy, are you alright?". He asked, wiping the sweat of his forehead - very stressed indeed.

"Yeah dad, I'm fine…" she paused for a moment. "What's going on? First I get a visit from Challenge Mode Cell, then he remembers my name, then the safety protocols are off-line and then you pop up and…"

"Slow down, pumpkin!" he interrupted her.

"Sorry dad, but I don't get it… what's happening?"

She heard him letting out a sigh.

"We're not quite sure how it happened, but according to the admins, there was a glitch of some sort while they were running a test"

"A test?" she asked

"Yes… they haven't told us moderators much, and most of the regular admins haven't received any useful information either. Word has leaked out, though, that there has been an incident during the beta-testing of a new upgrade to improve the AI of the characters…"

"But… the way he talked… and those safety protocols… it all seemed to real!" she stammered.

"Don't worry honey, all available admins are on it. I'm sure it'll only take a few hours before they find the bug and patch it. In the mean time, me and the other mods are scanning all stages of the game for stray players who are having trouble logging out"

"But what if Cell finds a way to override your commands?" she panicked. "Or maybe even gets administrator rights? Or…"

"Amy," he reprimanded. "'Cell' does not exist. He isn't anymore real than the monster that was hiding in your closet when you were little"

"He sure seemed real to me…" she muttered.

"I understand that you're scared," he reasoned. "He knew your name, where you lived and the lack of safety protocols didn't exactly make things less realistic. Still, you need to remember that he is nothing more than a few thousand terabytes of data, created to look and act like a character from an 300 year old, 20th century anime! Everything is going to be alright, and if you want, you can still log in and enter World Mode. It's hosted on a server of it's own, so it should not be affected by the glitch."

"I don't know if I want to go in again," she sighed.

"You don't have to if you don't want, but just remember that you can't keep running from your fear forever. Eventually, you'll have to put that helmet back on if you don't want to give up your favourite hobby"

"Yeah… I suppose you're right," she admitted. "besides that, I need to go shopping for better armour"

"Take care, honey"

"Thanks dad" Amy smiled and ended the conversation. Slowly, she walked upstairs to her room again. She glanced at the helmet and let out a deep sigh. Her eye fell on the cover of her bed: it was deep blue with a print of all the characters from Dragonball Z. For a moment, she let her gaze rest on Cell and shivered involuntarily.

"For crying out loud Amy, it's just a picture!" she scolded herself. "Dad's right, I need to stop acting like a baby. After dinner, I'm going back in!"


	6. Danger zone

**A/N:** Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! They really encourage me to keep writing this thing. Enjoy!

**_P.S._** Since I got a few messages about this: AI means Artificial Intelligence. Also, there may have been some confusion concerning the duties of admins and mods in DBV. The mods have limited system access, fix minor problems and make sure that Roshi keeps his pants on, while admins have complete control over the game and take care of the more serious problems and glitches.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Danger zone**

"But I have tons of homework!" Jake whined while Amy glared at him through the videophone.

"I don't care, this is an emergency!" she exclaimed.

"You being afraid of the virtual boogieman is an emergency?" he snickered.

"Have you even been listening to one word I said? He escaped Challenge Mode, knew my name, attacked me while the safety protocols were off-line…"

"I'll admit that the safety protocols being down kinda freaks me out… I thought the developers had made sure something like that could never happen"

"Anyway, I really don't want to go in alone, even if it's just World Mode…"

"Hmm… I don't know," he mocked. "Risk facing Dr. Gero's most dangerous creation without safety protocols, or explain to mom why I'm going to score another F on my math test tomorrow"

"Why not download your textbook into the game? You can go to Orange Star High and get Gohan to help you"

"Hey, that doesn't sound like a bad idea!" his face brightened. "You see, I'm having serious trouble with this equation and…"

"Safe it for nerd boy, and get your butt over to your computer!" Amy ordered impatiently, ending their conversation. She was already loosing courage, so the sooner she would put that helmet on, the better. Nervously, the girl glanced at the device that was still lying on her bed. It almost seemed to be mocking her…

"That's it!" she said sternly to herself. "Stop acting all paranoid! The admins have probably already fixed the glitch by now… I hope…"

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and put on the helmet.

"Activate World Mode!" she said and almost immediately felt herself being pulled in the virtual realm.

_"World Mode activated, welcome player Amy!"_ a female computer voice greeted her as she opened her eyes. She was standing in West City, which to her relief, was bustling with life. There was no eerie silence, insane Super Saiyans or empty clothes strewn on the streets.

"Amy! Over here!" she heard Jake call. He was standing at a very crowded bus stop and waved frantically at her.

"You're not going to order the computer to transport to Orange Star High?" she asked.

"The transport option is off-line, but I heard the mods are already on it. Until then, we have to travel to our destination manually"

"A glitch?" she asked alarmed.

"Nothing serious, I've been hanging around in World Mode longer than you have and I've seen this happening before. The problem usually goes away on its own after a few hours"

"Well thank you for those comforting words, mister I've-seen-it-all," she mocked. "Anyway, it looks like everything's okay here, so I'm going to walk around for a bit"

"Okay, I'll see you later!" he waved goodbye as the bus arrived. She watched the vehicle as it drove around a corner and disappeared from her view.

"So, where to now?" she wondered out loud. "I don't feel like shopping for new armour and the spaceship to Namek is probably packed…" She continued pondering for a while, until she suddenly got an idea.

"I'll go to Kame House! A nice swim is just what I need to clear my head!" she grinned. "Maybe I'll even have a chat with the old pervert himself"

She smiled at the thought. Roshi's AI wasn't as advanced as that of the major characters, but it was developed enough to allow him to engage in a simple conversation. Sure, the turtle hermit had a rather short attention span and had been known to chase female players all over the island, but she actually considered him somewhat of a close friend (characters in World Mode retained their memories). When Amy felt down and Jake wasn't around, she often went to Roshi's island to discuss her problems with the old man. Sometimes she got a valuable answer, other times he just 'accidentally' tripped and landed on her chest (which always resulted in Chi Chi appearing out of nowhere and whacking him with her frying pan), but she always felt much better after a visit.

After a quick stop at the nearest magazine stand to pick up a copy of "Big and Bouncy" (good thing the employees weren't programmed to ask questions!) she headed for the ferry.

* * *

"Hey Roshi!" Amy cheerfully called when she jumped off the boat and swam to the island. She had already put on a blue, one-piece bathing suit, making sure it wasn't too revealing. Friends or not, there was no way that she was going to wear a bikini near that old pervert. 

"Hello?" she called again as she reached the shore and walked onto the sandy beach. "Master Roshi, are you home? I brought you a dirty magazine!"

There was no answer. Amy now noticed that the island was eerily silent, while normally you could at least hear the sound of panting aerobic girls coming from the television, or the occasional shrieks of other female players that had visited the place out of curiosity: most of them never returned.

Slightly unnerved by the empty beach, she headed over to the small, pink house. Cautiously, she opened the door poked her head around the corner.

"Anyone here… EEEEK!"

Before she knew what was going on, a small figure jumped at her from the shadows and latched onto her face.

"ACK! Oolong! Get off me!" she shouted and batted the pig away.

"Sorry! Sorry! Please don't kill me," he panicked, "I thought you were that thing!"

"What 'thing'?" she wanted to ask, but when she looked behind him, it quickly became clear what exactly had struck terror into the perverted shapeshifter.

"Oh…Kami…" she whispered when her eye fell on the remains of the living room. It looked like a hurricane had just passed through Kame House: the furniture was ripped to shreds, the television blown to bits and there was a large hole in the wall that had not been there before.

"Let me guess," she asked with a flat this-is-getting-old face, "this 'thing' was about two meters tall, insect like, green with black spots and had a tail with a syringe at the tip?"

"Y-yeah!" he stammered. "That about describes it, have you seen that monster before?"

Amy let out a string of curses, pretty much confirming Oolong's suspicions.

"What about Roshi? Is he…" she trailed off when she saw a tattered piece of orange fabric lying behind the sofa. Trembling uncontrollably, she picked it up and saw what she had feared; a large hole in the front.

"That creature… I think he called himself Cell," the pig said, "asked us something about where he could find 'other players', but we had no idea what he was talking about! Then he mumbled something about 'needing more energy' and used that tail of his to… well…"

'Why?' Amy thought feverishly, suppressing the urge to throw up. 'Why does he want so much energy? It could be that he uses it to travel from server to server, but that's ridiculous! Then again, it's the only explanation I can think of. Still, if he just wanted to hop between modes, wouldn't he have needed hacker skills instead of a higher powerlevel? It makes no sense!'

She touched some of the blackened edge of the hole in the wall: it had already cooled down, which meant that the attack had happened before she logged in.

'That's a relief, if that creep was still lurking on the island I would have had no way to escape!' Amy thought and suddenly felt very vulnerable. Here she was, stuck on a small patch of land surrounded by water and dressed in a bathing suit, with nothing more than a talking pig and a hentai magazine to defend herself. Suddenly she realised something: if Cell was not at Kame House, then there was a good chance that he was now attacking somewhere else. Amy was not sure if she wanted to know.

"Oolong, where is Kame House's videophone?" she asked the whimpering pig. There were videophones spread all across the game, in all modes. In case of an emergency, they could be used to contact the helpdesk. They were hardly ever used, though, since the game was pretty stable. At least… it used to be.

"It's upstairs to your left," he squeaked before crawling under a table. It was probably going to take the admins quite some time to restore Roshi's character and erase the traumatic experience from his and Oolong's memory.

* * *

"This is player Amy, requesting immediate contact with a moderator," she told the blank screen as calm as possible, trying to keep her voice from shaking. It flickered on and a woman appeared on the monitor. 

_"All lines are currently busy, please hold,"_ she answered in a friendly, but computerized tone.

'Hold?' Amy frowned. 'I've never heard of anyone being put on hold before! Hell, no one ever calls!'

_"All lines are currently busy, please hold,"_ the woman spoke again.

'Dammit, I knew it was a bad idea to go back here!' she mentally cursed.

_"All lines are currently busy, please…"_

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time!" she rolled her eyes at the device and turned it off. It was now painfully obvious that Cell had not limited his killing spree to Roshi's island: every single player was now probably trying to reach a moderator to report that his or her favourite character had been sucked out of their clothes.

Or… maybe not just the characters…

Amy froze when she remembered the shapeshifters's words: he was looking for other players! She took a deep breath and slammed her fist against the wall as hard as possible. She only felt a dull, throbbing pain, which meant that the safety protocols in World Mode were still functioning. The question was: would they continue to do that? Being scraped by a relatively weak (considering what Cell was capable of) Special Beam Cannon had already hurt like hell, so being absorbed while the safety protocols were off-line was an experience she'd very much like to avoid. Then again, the more adventurous side of Amy wanted to return to West City and check things out. She knew it sounded stupid, but it felt like everyone in the DBV world was now combining forces in a grand and exiting boss battle against the forces of evil, while she was stuck on the deserted island, looking at the clouds and building virtual sandcastles. Amy could see it now: mods, admins and players bravely fighting side by side to defeat the malicious android. Like hell she was going miss out on all the action!

Amy activated her Challenge Mode gear: she didn't have any powers or her scouter, but she did have access to her customized outfit (a pair of forest-green denim jeans, red sneakers and a closefitting orange shirt with a tribal-like print at the front –hey, if you're going into battle, you might as well look good doing it!) and her capsule case. She took out one of the little devices and threw it out the window and onto the beach, where turned into a jetski. Amy had bought the old thing on impulse when she was a newbie and had hardly ever used it, but now she was glad that she had forgotten to sell the rusted contraption, since she had no aircar licence (or an aircar, for that matter…).

She hopped into the seat and headed back to West City, while trying to figure out Cell's plan. Just what did she know about that creep? In the anime, he had not really been the type that just would rush into battle and let his fists do the talking. Unlike most typical DBZ villains, Cell seemed to rely more on cunning strategy than brute force. Instead of blindly attacking everything that moved, he stayed in the shadows, waiting for just the right opportunity to strike his prey. If the victim successfully fended him off, the android would not engage in further combat unless he was absolutely sure that he could win. To make matters worse, he was able to suppress his ki, so the admins were going to have a pretty hard time tracking him down.

'Get ready Cell,' Amy thought angrily, 'because we are not going to give up on our favourite game without a fight!'

* * *

**A/N: **Amy is going back to West City, but what will she find? The expected army of admins, mods and players celebrating their victory, or something else that might change her life forever? Stay tuned and don't forget to review! 


	7. Crossing the line

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews! I wanted to write this chapter yesterday, but I was still so tired… I've been to the Dutch Animecon this weekend and let me tell you: walking around for three days in a Yakumo costume (from Shinzo) when it's 32 degrees Celsius in the shade while you have only slept for about two hours (I was sharing a room with another DBZ fan and when we started to discuss funimation… we sort of lost track of time) is NO picnic! It was worth it, though. I made a lot of new friends and got myself a fresh batch of manga and "Dragonball Z Budokai 2" for the playstation! My life is complete…

* * *

**Chapter 7: Crossing the line**

While driving her jetski with one hand, Amy used the other to reach for her cell phone. Those came with the "newbie pack" that each player received when they started a new game. You couldn't reach the helpdesk or anything else that was stationed in the real world, but it was used to contact other players in World Mode since Scouters were only available in Saga Mode and certain levels in Challenge Mode. Fumbling with the small buttons, Amy dialed Jake's number.

"C'mon, c'mon!" she muttered as she waited for the connection to establish. Unfortunately, she only got his voicemail.

"Hi, this is Jake! Leave a message and I'll get back to you!"

Amy growled in annoyance when she heard the beep. She hated being forced to wait, especially during times like these when psycho villains from another server were on the rampage and all.

"Jake, it's Amy! Listen up: something weird is going on. Cell was here and attacked Roshi's island and I think he's after the other game characters as well, maybe even the players! I'm heading back to West City to check things out. Call me back, okay?"

Kicking up the speed, Amy wondered why Jake had not answered her call. It really wasn't like him to turn his cell off, or forget to take it with him.

'Something must've happened to him!' Amy thought. 'I better hurry!'

* * *

"Uh oh…" 

Amy gulped as she cautiously ventured deeper into the heart of West City. There was no sign of destruction, no sign of a huge and intense boss battle, no sign of… anything! The entire place was deserted and the only thing she heard was the wind and the rustling of empty clothes billowing in it's wake. To make a long story short: it creeped her out.

Nervously, she peeked around the corner of a dark alley. Behind the garbage bins, she found two black and white Starter Gi's and also a brightly colored dress with a pair of white boots.

"So much for a custom outfit being an advantage," she shivered involuntarily. Sure, it was only virtual, but the sight was still rather unnerving.

After hurrying out of the alley, she continued walking down the streets and after a few minutes, she began to feel more relaxed. Cell wasn't blind: if he was still here, he would've seen her and attacked by now, right? Convincing herself that the coast was clear, Amy decided to head for Orange Star High to look for Jake.

'That chicken probably logged out the second that thing appeared,' she thought slightly amused, 'but if he's still here, he's going to get the scare of his life!'

Smirking mischievously, she started running in the direction of the building thinking of the best way to pull his leg. Should she hide inside the airvents or was it better to do it the old-fashioned way and just sneak up on him from behind?

"Maybe I can find a monster mask in one of the stores and… OWW!"

Amy let out a startled yelp as she tripped over a pair of slippers and landed flat on her face.

"Damnit! That hurt!" she rubbed her nose, and suddenly froze. "Wait a minute… that really… actually… HURT! The safety protocols are off-line!"

Shaking, she looked at her reflection in a window. There was a nasty scrape on her cheek, and it was bleeding slightly. In the real world, Amy would've shrugged, and put a band aid on it, but this was much more serious! Players weren't supposed to bleed! Not even Cell's Special Beam Cannon had been able to do that earlier!

'He's gaining more and more control over the game every minute,' it flashed through her mind. 'But that means…'

Horrified, she looked at the clothes lying on the streets. If they had been attacked after the safety protocols had gone down…

"Oh God…" she whispered, her face turning extremely pale. "Computer, log out!"

When nothing happened, Amy sighed. She should've known it wouldn't work. It wasn't like all those people had let themselves be killed voluntarily.

"Alright Amy, don't panic, you got to keep your cool here!" she said to herself. After taking a couple of deep breaths, she hurried inside a clothing store and hid inside one of the dressing rooms.

'I'm going to need a better hideout if I want to stay alive until the admins fix this,' she thought. 'let's see… If I was Cell, what would be the one place I wouldn't look for my next dinner?' After pondering for a few minutes, her face suddenly lit up.

'I got it! Orange Star High! If Kid Gohan beat him, there's no way he'd risk running into the teenage version!' her expression dropped again. 'Wait a minute, he's only in his imperfect form so he has no idea about the Cell Games yet… Still, I bet there are a lot more hiding places in that building than in this store, and maybe I can find Jake'

Suddenly, Amy felt the blood draining from her face when she heard a sound coming from the cabin behind her. It sounded like someone was moaning.

"Hello?" she whispered, too afraid to move.

Another moan came from the other side. After gathering her courage, she slipped out of her dressing room and peeked into the other one. When she saw what was behind the curtains, she gasped.

A middle-aged woman was lying on the floor, panting heavily. She was clutching her left side, where a dark stain of blood was forming on her clothes. What shocked Amy most, was that they weren't regular clothes. The woman was wearing a black, long sleeved undershirt, just like normal players and mods. Her gi, however, was blue. This wasn't a player or even a mod…

"You're an admin…?" Amy asked, still not believing what she was seeing. To her horror, the woman slowly nodded in response. This was not right! Admins rarely ventured inside the game, since they were able to solve most problems from outside the virtual world. In the unlikely event that an admin did have to put on his or her helmet, they entered in God Mode, which meant they were invincible. Unlimited power-ups, armor, hit points… Admins had complete control over the game and the only way to possibly harm one was to somehow get hold of the entire system and override their access codes to make…

"No way…" she whispered in shock when realization suddenly dawned on her.

"Disaster…" the admin coughed. "Too intelligent… lost control…took over all servers…"

"Just… just hold on, okay?" Amy ordered while going back into the store. She grabbed a large T-shirt and ripped it apart into long strokes of fabric. She took those back to the dressing room and bandaged the woman's side.

"There, that should slow down the bleeding," she said. "Can you walk?"

"Leave me… behind," the admin protested as Amy tried to grab her arm.

"Are you insane?" she exclaimed. "What if he comes back? I know this stuff is only virtual, but without the safety protocols it's going to be rather unpleasant if he tries to absorb…"

The admin's expression turned grim.

"My left pocket…"

Amy frowned but reached for the woman's gi. Inside the pocket, she found a small monitor about the size of a human hand. There was a red button on the back and when she pressed it, the device turned out to be a portable TV. It was receiving signals from the real world, but every channel was broadcasting about the same event. Amy felt her blood run cold when she heard what it was.

"_Every known computer expert in the world has tried to hack into the famous digital realm, but none of them have had any success,"_ an overweight man in a grey suit announced. _"Millions of players and DBV employees are still trapped inside the game, while the developers are desperately trying to regain control. No one is quite sure what is happening, but rumor has it that a character named "Cell" was a test subject in an experiment to improve the artificial intelligence of the virtual individuals. He then started learning and developing at an alarming rate, but kept this hidden from the admins until it was too late. This provides fuel for the discussion about artificial intelligence and the dangers of…"_

Amy decided to flip to another channel.

"… _have still not woken up,"_ a young woman with platinum blond hair finished her sentence. She was standing inside a hospital room where hundreds of people from all ages were lying in beds, hooked up to machines. She walked over a woman that was sitting next to a young boy, probably about twelve years old. If it had not been for the tube up his nose, Amy would've thought he was just asleep.

"_I don't understand, they said it was safe"_ she cried hysterically.

"_What happened to your son?"_ the reporter asked.

"_DBV was always his favorite virtual game,"_ the mother sobbed, _"as soon as he came home from school, he put on his helmet to fight monsters and save the world. I never thought anything of it, I mean… everyone assured me that it was harmless and I'd rather have him hanging out in a virtual 'gravity room' than somewhere on the streets,"_ she sniffled and the reporter handed her a tissue. _"A few days ago, I heard him chatting to his friend on the phone. They were talking about a creature named 'Cell' that had somehow escaped something called 'Challenge Mode', according to rumors that had been posted on popular newsgroups. I had no idea what he was talking about, I'm not into games or stuff like that! Anyway, he sounded rather exited and wanted to see that thing for himself. My son has always been too curious for his own good, but I figured that since it was virtual, he could not…"_ the woman burst out in tears again.

"_As you can see,"_ the reporter spoke directly to the viewer, _"12-jear old Jason is now lying in a coma. Doctors have no idea how to help him or the other victims of this so-called 'Cell'. We can only urge everyone to cease playing DBV until the crisis has been solved. If someone in your home is currently logged in, do not, I repeat, do NOT remove their helmet! The settings have been altered in such a way, that the shock of forcefully being severed from the virtual world will most likely result in serious brain damage"_

"He's getting stronger…every minute," the admin sighed. "Little by little he's able to do more damage… first only in the virtual world… and now…"

"Don't talk," Amy said, her voice trembling, "save your strength"

The admin smiled at her and raised her hand to touch the girls face.

"Stay alive…" she whispered and closed her eyes. Shaking like a leaf, Amy felt the woman's pulse. She was dead.

"That bastard…" Amy growled, tears forming in her eyes. "I'll get him for this! Do you hear me, Cell?" she shouted. "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!"

Outside, standing on the roof of the store, the android chuckled. He made sure to stay out of sight when she stormed back on the streets and cursed loudly.

'I've played your game, my dear,' he smirked evilly, 'now it's time to play mine!'


	8. Hide and seek

**A/N:** Sorry for the lack of updates everyone, but I've been incredibly busy. There are just so many things going on in my life right now and sometimes I feel like I'll never get through. No family problems or nasty health issues, but just a lot of stuff I need to take care of. I shouldn't even be writing this chapter, but I HAD to get a break or I would've lost my mind. Seriously. I wouldn't want to trade places with Amy, but sometimes we all need to escape reality for a while so we can recharge our batteries. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. **Just don't expect another update until the end of August**, even though the cliffy is pure evil. I really need to completely focus on some more pressing issues first before I can continue my fics. Hope you understand!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Hide and seek**

Amy ran as fast as she could. She had to get away from this place!

'Those poor people…' she thought as she saw another tattered Starter gi lying in a garden. The unfortunate owner had probably tried to hide inside one of the houses, but never even made it to the door. Now, his or her body in the real world was trapped in a coma with no hope of ever waking up. To make matters worse: Cell was getting more powerful by the minute! First he was only able to escape Challenge Mode, then he managed to disable the safety protocols and inflicting more and more damage with every attack, and the destruction was no longer limited to just the virtual world. The worst thing that could happen now was ending up in a coma, but Amy seriously doubted that things were going to stay that way.

"Think positive thoughts," she ordered herself. "Logged in players might be screwed, but everyone else is safe as long as they don't put un their helmet!" she paused for a minute and looked at her watch. It was almost 9 PM and the sun was already setting.

"Oh great, as if things weren't creepy enough by daylight," she muttered. A growl from her stomach also made her realise that she had not had anything to eat since breakfast.

"Now what am I going to do? You can taste virtual food, but it's not the real thing!" Growling, she walked over to an abandoned hotdog stand and kicked it.

"It's not fair," she exclaimed. "Even if I somehow manage to stay out of Cells hands, I'll still starve to death!"

The girl sighed and grabbed a hotdog anyway. Virtual or not, the smell was very tempting. Oddly, before she even took a bite, she already felt full. Amy blinked and then suddenly realized that someone in the real world had probably moved her body to a hospital (good thing the VR-helmets were wireless!) and used a nasal tube to get food and water into her stomach. She smiled slightly at the thought that she hadn't been forgotten. It gave her a feeling of hope somehow.

Amy suddenly felt incredibly tired. The long day had really taken it's toll on her and all she wanted, was to lie down and sleep for at least a month.

"I better find a place to crash before I pass out on the street," she yawned and glanced up at the stars that had appeared in the evening sky. "I'll continue searching for dad and Jake tomorrow…I just hope they're okay"

She sighed and looked around her. There were various places she could stay, ranging from expensive hotels to ordinary houses.

'This city is so weird…' she thought . 'It's like someone grabbed a whole bunch of random buildings and mixed them all together just for the hell of it'

Amy pondered for a minute. Yeah, it was awfully tempting to spend a luxurious night in a virtual version of the Hilton, but if Cell came back, wouldn't that be the first place he'd look for her? Amy shook her head and went inside a small house. After looking out the window to make sure she had not been followed, she went upstairs and searched for a bedroom.

* * *

A shadowy figure quietly glided through the night sky, stalking his unsuspecting prey. When she stopped to look at the stars, he quickly hid behind a tall building. Blessed with superior senses, he had not failed to see the weary expression on her face when she was trudging trough the city. He knew it would not be long before the girl would need to rest. His suspicions were conformed when he heard her yawning and muttering something about a place to sleep. He couldn't help but grin when he saw her turning away from the hotel and entering an ordinary house instead, just like he had predicted. 

"I'm sorry my dear," the android chuckled, "but if you think you can outsmart me that easily, you are dearly mistaken"

* * *

Groggily, Amy opened her eyes and crawled out of her make-shift bed. There was only one bedroom in the entire house and it had a HUGE window with semi-transparent drapes that provided very little shielding against evil androids scanning for movements. Therefore, she had decided to grab a pillow and spend the night in the safety of the bathtub. Needless to say, her muscles were stiff as a board. She stood up and groaned as she tried to stretch her sore back. 

"There has got to be a way to stay alive without killing myself," she muttered while she turned on the shower. Amy felt more like a relaxing bath, but showering was faster and if that thing found her, she wouldn't have to waste precious seconds climbing out of the tub. This wasn't about comfort, it was about survival.

She quickly washed her body, not even waiting for the water to get warm. After that, she shampooed her hair and rinsed it until she was sure it was clean. Perhaps it would've been better to save time and not bother with trivial matters like hygiene, but if that thing had superhuman hearing, why wouldn't it have superhuman smell? Besides that, Amy always felt like a whole new person after a nice shower and Kami knew she needed all the energy she could get!

Now fully awake, she hastily dried herself off and grabbed her clothes. She let out a sigh of relief when she finished getting dressed. If Cell did find her now, at least she wouldn't die naked.

'I'm sure that'd be a pretty interesting entry in the system logs,' she thought wryly while brushing her still wet hair. Suddenly a familiar smell filled her nose. It was the smell of bacon and eggs, toast and…

"COFFEE! Sweet, precious coffee!"

With a squeal, Amy practically flew down the stairs in search of the brown liquid. She burst through the kitchen door and her eyes fell on the table, where breakfast was served. Amy knew she didn't have to eat, but she felt the need to cling to some of her old habits. They reminded her of her old life in the real world and helped her stay focused on getting back.

Amy grabbed the coffee and gulped the entire mug down in one go. Ahh… the blessings of caffeine! She needed it badly, but of course felt nothing since the stuff was only virtual. Still, the taste of her favourite drink cheered her up.

"Just you wait Cell, I'll figure a way out of this place," she mumbled while eating a piece of toast. "I'll find dad and Jake first and then we'll be long gone by the time you've tracked me down"

A few minutes later, Amy had finished her breakfast. Normally, she would feel satiated and content, but there was something about the food that was… not right. She didn't mean the fact that it was virtual. It was something else… something that didn't make any sense… something like…

"Wait a second, just who the hell cooked this stuff!"

Her lips parted in a slight "O", when she realized that the answer was watching her from the ceiling, chuckling darkly as an evil grin formed on its beak…


	9. Definitely not Santa

**A/N:** Uhm.. better late than never, I suppose? Really, I won't abandon my stories but I've been busy. Not as bad as in August or September, but still… sigh… Don't expect weekly updates. I would like to, but I'm tired of making promises I can't keep. Writing takes more than time, it also takes energy and I've been kind of low on the latter lately. I still love reviews though! They motivate me!

**P.S. **Just to clear things up: the house Amy is staying in has three "levels" (don't know the correct English word for that one). Ground, first and attic. Living room and kitchen are on ground, bed and bathroom on first. The stairs are all in separate hallways, and so is the door. It's just like my house actually, hehehe!

* * *

**Chapter 9: Definitely not Santa**

"KYAAAA!!!"

Amy almost flew out of the bathtub, frantically looking left and right. She cursed loudly when she slipped on a towel and fell back in the tub again.

'It…it was just a dream?'

Still shivering, she walked into the hallway and crouched inside the bedroom. After listening for any suspicious sounds (and not hearing them) she slowly got up and peeked underneath the curtains. The sun was just starting to rise and the morning cold gave her goose bumps. Amy didn't dare close the window, though. For all she knew, the android could be flying right over the house!

'dream or no dream, that was WAY too close for comfort!'

Amy suddenly froze, and this time it had nothing to do with the temperature. She smelled something, and almost immediately recognised it.

Coffee.

'Oh no… you've got to be kidding me!' Amy barely managed to suppress a startled yelp. No make matters worse, she could now also hear someone climbing the stairs. A very weird image of "the monster of Nicky town" bringing her breakfast in bed flashed through her head, but Amy didn't laugh. She knew that it was much more likely that she was the one that would end up as breakfast if that thing found her.

The sound of footsteps became louder and louder until it stopped in front of the door. Amy gasped when she saw the doorknob turning. There was nowhere to hide! Well, if that creep though he could comatize her without a fight, he had another thing coming! She grabbed the sheets from the bed and lunged at the figure now standing in the doorway.

"AAAAAARGH! AMY! GET OFF ME! I CAN'T BREATHE!"

Amy blinked at Cell's muffled cries. His voice sounded higher than usual and for some reason, the android also looked a lot…shorter?

"JAKE!?" she exclaimed, quickly getting the sheets off her suffocating friend.

"Yeah," he coughed. "nice to see you too"

"How did you… why…" she stammered and then suddenly smacked him on the head.

"What was that for?" he yelped.

"For sneaking up at me like that AND not answering my calls, you idiot!" she tried to sound mad, but relief was clearly visible on her face. They hugged for a moment and went down to the kitchen. Jake poured them both a cup of coffee and they sat down in the living room to talk.

"I had to turn off my cell phone because I was hiding from… well, I guess you figured out what happened with the empty clothes lying around and all"

"No kidding," she said while sipping her drink. They were both on edge, but since Amy had not been attacked during the night, they figured that Cell was probably terrorising one of the other cities at the moment. She told Jake about master Roshi, the admin and what was going on in the real world.

"… and then I decided to crash here and look for you two in the morning," she finished. "by the way, where's my dad?"

Jake looked at the floor, and mumbled something incoherently.

"What?"

"Well… uhm… you see…"

"Jake, you have exactly three seconds to tell me what happened, or…"

"He didn't make it, Amy…"

The girl's eyes widened. This was not happening, her friend did not just say that!

"Remember I had uploaded my textbook into the game, so Gohan could help me? Well, there was some kind of malfunction and I couldn't access it again. I was not the only one having trouble, so your dad came down to Orange Star High to fix the problem. Then…. Someone came running into the library, yelling something about being unable to log-out. We heard people screaming outside, followed by a couple of explosions. Your dad told everyone to stay inside and be very quiet. He never said it, but I think he already knew who it was or he would've gone to check things out and a mod usually tries to…"

"Get on with it, Jake," Amy ordered impatiently. Part of her didn't want to know, but she knew she had to find out what had happened.

"Okay…" he continued grimly. "After a few minutes, the screaming just… stopped, and we heard someone kicking down the door and entering the main hall. At this point, people started to panic. Everyone who had seen the Cell saga recognised the sound of those metallic footsteps. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what had happened outside and who was now searching the building for survivors. With all the screaming, it was also obvious that the safety protocols were off-line. Well… we weren't absolutely sure about the latter, but no one was very eager to test our theory.

Anyway, your dad fortunately got everyone to stay calm. He tried contacting the admins to have them de-activate the power cap on World Mode. If people could not log out, at least they would be able to defend themselves. Strangely, he could not establish a connection. To make matters worse… it turned out his own powerlevel had been capped too. Moderators were no longer above regular players, which could only mean that the admins were losing their fight to regain control over the servers."

Jake paused and drank the rest of his coffee, which had not cooled off, and probably never would: virtual cuisine had its perks.

"Suddenly, we could hear the footsteps coming closer. The library was big, but there were only a few hiding places, none of them very good. There were no secret passageways or any of that cool stuff you always see in the movies. Your dad told everyone to take the fire exits while he would try to buy us some time. He saved us Amy…"

Jake tried to put a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder, but she swatted it away.

"Don't touch me!"

"I'm sorry I didn't try to save him… I know I'm a wimp and…"

Amy smacked him in the face, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Hey! I'm trying to apologize here!"

"Do you really think I would've wanted you to fight that monster?" she sobbed. "Do you? I already lost my dad, I don't want to lose my best friend too!"

"They'll find a way to get him out if his coma, Amy," he tried to assure her. "And we'll find a way back to the real world, count on it!"

She sniffled, and laughed.

"Aren't _you_ supposed to be the nervous wreck here?"

He smiled sheepishly

"Yeah, I guess sometimes I'm kind of-"

"Jumping at the slightest sound…"

"Maybe I'm a bit-"

"Always convinced our doom is just waiting around the corner…"

"That was only one-"

"Screaming like a little girl at the sight of a…"

"I GET IT! I GET IT!"

Amy grinned and glanced at her coffee. She took another sip but did not finish her cup. Without the caffeine, it just wasn't the same.

"Hey Jake," she started again. "How did you find me anyway?"

"I was staying at the hotel next door and your screaming kinda woke me up," he answered meekly, bracing himself for another whack, but it never came. His friend seemed to be focused on something else.

"Amy?"

"Shhh!" she whispered. "I think I heard something"

Jake concentrated and suddenly heard footsteps on the roof! They had been quiet enough to pass off as a figment of his imagination, but he knew better by now. Either Santa Claus was early this year, or he and Amy were in serious trouble!

The sound of breaking glass and a loud 'thud' in the attic made them jump to their feet. They heard the intruder chuckling as he made his way down to the first floor.

"Come out, Come out, wherever you are," he taunted in a singsong voice that could make even Captain Ginyu cry for his mommy.

'Definitely not Santa…'

* * *

A/N: For all you fellow Dutchies out there, just replace Santa with Sinterklaas, if you're feeling patriotic, hehehe. And I'd like to give the staff a digital, dutch chocolate letter for letting us type "?!" again instead of just "!" or "?". Hmm, I really should learn the proper translation for those... 


	10. Between a rock and a hard place

**A/N** Phew, I finally got this chapter down! I hope you enjoy reading it, and for those of you who don't know what a kotatsu is, check out the footnote. R&R!

* * *

**Chapter 10: Between a rock and a hard place **

"Oh crap!" Jake hissed. "We gotta run!"

"How?!" Amy hissed back. "The only way out is trough the hall! It's not like we can just walk up to that creep and politely ask him to go back upstairs and pretend he didn't see us!"

The footsteps came closer and closer and a soft chuckling echoed through the house. Acting more on instinct than anything else, both of them ducked for cover. The programmers of DBV wanted to add an educational touch to the game, to please parents and teachers but also because it was fun sometimes. In West City for example, the interior of each house varied to represent different cultures from all over the world. There were Dutch homes, American homes, French homes, African homes and so on. Cells rampage had somehow messed up this particular feature, which kind of explained the hotel next to the house. Amy was somewhat curious, but further investigations would have to wait. She quickly crawled underneath a Japanese kotatsu **(1)** while Jake hid inside an old English standing clock.

Barely a second later, the door was kicked down and Cell entered the room in all of his bug-like glory. Amy considered pouncing on him like she had done to Jake, but for some reason she could no longer move. She barely suppressed a yelp when his footsteps stopped in front of the kotatsu and the tip of his tail brushed the cover, making it rustle slightly. Amy had vowed revenge for all the people that Cell had attacked, but she felt her warrior spirit leak away. Before, Cell had been a monster that had terrorized thousands (or perhaps even millions!) of fellow gamers. Now, he was a monster that had also comatized her father… the man that Amy trusted with her life. No matter how bad things looked or what kind of trouble she was in, her dad would always swoop in and save her.

_(flashback) _

_"DADDY!!!" _

_5 year old Amy clutched her doll to her chest as she backed away from the stray dogs. She had only wanted to play, why were they being so mean to her? Whimpering, Amy pressed against a wall, she was trapped! The leader of the pack started to growl viciously and jumped at the terrified girl, but was suddenly knocked away by a large man. _

_"Amy, what are you doing? I told you not to wander off on your own!" _

_"I'm sorry daddy," the girl sniffled. "I only wanted to pet the doggies, they looked so lonely!" _

_"It's okay honey, are you alrigh… ARGH!!!" _

_"DADDY!" the girl cried when she saw her fathers bleeding arm. The leader had tried to attack Amy again, but the man had jumped in front of his daughter just in time. Growling and a murderous glint in his eyes, he bashed in the animal's skull, sending the other dogs running with their tails between their legs. _

_"That was scary!" Amy cried, hugging her fathers' leg. _

_"Don't worry pumpkin," her dad said with a forced smile, clutching his wounded arm, "As long as I'm here, I won't let anything hurt you… ever!" _

_She sobbed and looked up with brimming eyes. "P-promise?" _

_Another smile, genuine this time as he playfully ruffled her hair. _

_"I promise" _

_(end flashback) _

Amy was older now, but deep down, she had always kept believing that her father was invincible. Cell had burst her bubble and it had hit her hard. She was no longer the loudmouthed warrior girl who loved rushing headlong into battles and kicking some Ginyu Force butt, even though she knew Frieza would wipe the floor with her later. Now that it wasn't a harmless game anymore, Amy felt her courage leaving her. To make a long story short: she was scared to death.

She heard Cell rummaging through the kitchen, opening cabinets and turning over tables. Not a single possible hiding place was skipped. Amy realized that it would only be a matter of time before she and Jake would be discovered. To make matters worse, the kotatsu was on and she had no idea how to turn it off without being noticed. It was getting a bit stuffy and she barely managed to suppress a yawn. There was something about the soothing warmth that made her head feel foggy.

Cell chuckled again, and Amy hated that she couldn't see a thing. For all she knew, he could be standing right in front of her! She glanced at the covers: would he notice if she lifted them just a tiny bit to take a quick peek?

'Of course he would, that creep probably already knows where we're hiding and is just playing a sick game with our minds. If I was a real warrior… I would go down fighting, but who am I kidding! I'm not like Goku, Vegeta or even that idiot Yajirobe! I don't have superhuman strength, I don't have any special talents… hell, I can't even fly! As long as Cell controls the game, I'm just like I am in the real world: a normal, average human girl and nothing more…'

Amy clenched her eyes shut and curled up in a fetal position. She would never, EVER complain again about her own life being too boring, while fantasizing about heroically beating one evil villain after another. She would never again watch her old DragonballZ DVD's and wish that she could stay in the game and fight forever instead of having to sit at home and do chores, study and prepare for a long boring life filled with work, work and more work. Those dreaded 'responsibilities' that her father warned her about constantly, didn't seem that bad right now. Amy didn't care even if she later would have to spend 24 hours, seven days a week in a stuffy, cramped office cubicle: anything was better than this!

She flinched when the android knocked over the microwave. She knew it had been the microwave because of the beeping sound it gave, just before hitting the floor. She also knew that the device had been standing on the counter, close to the invisible border between the kitchen and the living room. That bastard, he was actually enjoying this! Taking his sweet time playing dumb before finally 'discovering' them!

Her logical mind screamed at her to run, to refuse continuing to play this twisted game of hide and seek and make a run for it. Her primordial survival instincts screamed back, arguing that Cell was extremely fast and would kill her on the spot before she even made it to the door. Amy agreed with her instincts this time; her goal now was to stay alive for as long as possible, until they were able to safely remove her helmet.

'I have to stay alive,' she thought hazily, wiping the sweat off her forehead, 'I just have to survive long enough… I just have to keep holding on until they save us… just a little longer!'

"You know, my dear," she suddenly heard Cell talking out loud, "It would be much easier for both of us if you would just come out, but if you insist on hiding from me, may I suggest breathing a little less loudly?"

Kicking herself mentally, Amy suddenly realised to her embarrassment that she had been panting like a horse. It was so warm… and the air was so stale… The heater could not be turned off from under the kotatsu and the heavy covers reached all the way to the floor, making it feel like she was trapped in an airtight Tupperware box. Amy fought against the blanket of fog that was wrapping itself around her mind, but it was becoming more and more difficult with every passing minute. She needed fresh air and she needed it now!

"You can stay under that table for as long as you want," Cell continued with a hint of amusement in his voice, "I have all the time in the world"

'That son of a… he's just gonna wait until I suffocate? Smoke me out like a rat?' she thought angrily.

"Speaking of time…" he added mockingly, "what a marvellous example of British craftsmanship we have here! My, I do wonder how it works…"

That was the final straw. Without thinking, Amy jumped to he feet, knocking over the kotatsu in the process. No way she was going to let that creep kill Jake! She felt a wave of cool air wash over her face, the sudden change of temperature making her feel dizzy. The fact that all her blood had rushed to her feet as the result of getting up too quickly, did not help either. Amy took a few bumbling steps towards Cell, staggered backwards again in a almost drunken fashion, flailed her arms in a futile attempt to keep her balance, tripped over the fallen kotatsu and finally passed out.

"AMY!" Jake cried, jumping out of the standing clock, almost tripping over his own two feet. His friend was laying sprawled out on the floor rather ungracefully, with little swirls for eyes and a head like a tomato. He grabbed a coffee mug to throw at the android, only to spill the contents on his hand. Cell sweatdropped at the sight of the unconscious girl and the boy who was now trying to stick his burned hand in a flower vase.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" he asked, the sweat drop on the side of his head growing larger. It was one of the added effects to give the game a more anime-like feel.

Jake turned beet red from embarrassment, but got in front of Amy, holding the now empty mug in front of him as, as if it were some sort of Jedi weapon.

"S-stay back!" Jake stuttered, "I have a c-coffee mug a-and I'm not afraid to use it!"

Cell blinked, the laughed.

"Of all the humans I absorbed, you two have certainly been the most amusing ones"

"You make it sound like it's already over," Jake said with a shaking voice.

"That's because it is," Cell chuckled darkly and took a step forward, poising his tail. Jake startled and took a step back.

"R-really, you don't want our cells!" he squeaked. "I'm terrible at math, always loose at dodge ball, am allergic to almost anything with a shadow, and in the morning, Amy has really, REALLY bad breath!"

"I heard that!"

Staggering, his friend got up. She almost fell again, but Jake caught her and helped her stand.

"Next time we're hiding, I call dibs on the fridge," she muttered groggily, while trying to focus and get rid of the blurred view. The image of Cell standing in front of them, ready to move in for the kill, finally registered in her mind and she could only think one thing:

'Uh, oh…'

* * *

**(1)** The "kotatsu" is a small table with a heavy quilted cover that extends to the floor. A heavy dining surface holds the cover in place, and underneath the table sits an electric heater (most of the time infrared, so you can't burn yourself). The Japanese sit at the table to keep their legs and feet warm during the winter, at least… that's what I got from the Love Hina manga, hehehe. 


	11. Enter… Ginyu Force?

**A/N:** Everyone who likes stereotypes, raise your hand! I know I do! If you don't… well, you have been warned. Happy holidays!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

* * *

**Chapter 11: Enter… Ginyu Force?!**

Even though she felt like she had been run over by a train, Amy knew trouble when she saw it. Especially when it was staring her in the face. The girl took a couple of deep breaths to clear her head and clenched her fists. Not like it was going to do her much good: her powerlevel was still capped, so fighting the android would be like trying to destroy a mountain with three feathers and a handful of cotton balls.

'Then again, it's not like I stand much of a chance anyway… I can see it now: "Hey Cell, I hope you're hungry, because I have a can of whoopass here with your name on it! Don't give me that look, I know Frieza wiped the floor with me six times in a row, but he just got lucky, that's all". Yeah, right…'

Amy glanced at the android, wondering why he hadn't killed her yet. Or… moved at all for that matter. She blinked when she noticed that their attacker was standing still like a living statue. She turned to Jake, who was slowly approaching the android and… started poking him?!

"Jake, you idiot! What are you doing?!" she exclaimed.

"It's okay Amy, look!" he waved his hand in front of Cell's face, and let out an almost disappointed sigh when the android still did not react. "Kind of an anti-climax, huh?"

Amy stood on her toes and leaned forward, looking in the monster's snakelike eyes, not aware that the distance between their faces was slowly growing smaller. Somewhere in the depths of those cold pink orbs, she suddenly saw anger flaring up. She almost jumped out of her skin when his eyelids suddenly twitched and he emitted a very low growl.

"Jake," Amy squeaked, backing away from the android, don't know what's going on, but I think this would be a good time to run"

She turned around, wondering why he didn't answer her.

"Jake? Hey, where'd you… EEEEEEEEEEK!"

Amy felt herself being grabbed around the waist and rise into the air after crashing through the ceiling. The saw the house under her growing smaller and smaller as her mysterious rescuer flew higher and higher.

"We'd better step on it Jeice," he said in a gruff voice. "I'm not sure how much longer Guldo can hold his breath"

Not sure she had heard correctly, Amy glanced sideways where, to her disbelieve, she saw a familiar red skinned alien carrying her friend.

She looked up and immediately wished she hadn't.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" she shrieked, going bug-eyed at the sight of her savior.

"Quiet down girl, my ears are bleeding!" Recoome said jokingly, flashing her toothy a grin. Amy, of course, did not hear a word he said, being in a complete state of panic and all.

"HEY! LET ME GO! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!"

The girl started thrashing, almost making him lose his balance.

"Stop squirming, I need you to hold still!"

"Yeah, I bet you do!" she yelled, trying to wriggle her way out of his grasp.

"Do you want to plummet to the ground and have that android absorb whatever parts of you he can scrape off the sidewalk?"

Amy stopped struggling, realising he had a point there. Recoome chuckled and shifted her onto his other arm, carrying her bridal style. She looked at Jake again, and saw he had fainted.

'Okay, let's recap for a minute: first I get stuck in a virtual reality game, then a killer android starts absorbing other game characters, players and employees, including my dad and then decides me and Jake look rather appetizing as well. I almost suffocate, faint and get kidnapped by a random member of the Ginyu Force. Boy, my life is just getting better and better, isn't it?'

"Hey, mate!" the other alien shouted while tapping his scouter. "Guldo's powerlevel just took a nosedive!"

"That's not good, isn't it?"

"He usually can hold his breath much longer than this if he has to," Jeice said, sounding rather nervous.

"That thing must've broken through his timefreeze!"

Jeice visibly paled.

"That's not possible… is it?" he gulped, and then turned to Amy. "What do you think, girl?"

Amy just gawked at him and blinked.

"… huh?"

"You know us, so you can tell, right?" Recoome asked.

"I bet ye fifty zennie he can't!"

"A hundred zennie says he can!"

"You're on, mate!" Jeice smirked and turned to Amy again.

"So? Tell us girl, can that Cell guy break through Guldo's timefreeze or not?"

Amy opened her mouth, closed it again and fainted.

"Hey," Jeice cocked an eyebrow, "You DID tell her we're the good guys now, right?"

Recoome sweatdropped.

"Oops…"

* * *

Groggily, Amy opened her eyes. What happened? She was lying on a sofa, while Jake was positioned in an armchair. They were in some kind of living room. Suddenly, realisation hit her like a ton of bricks, memories flashing through her head… and something else was flashing as well. 

"AAAAARRGH!!! OH DEAR KAMI, MY VIRGIN EYES!" she shrieked, the horrible imaged still burning on her retinas.

"RECOOME! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON, YOU DUMBASS!" Jeice yelled from the other side of the room, when he saw his fellow Ginyu Force member stepping out of the bathroom in his birthday suit.

"Oops, sorry about that!" he grinned sheepishly as he quickly grabbed a painting off the wall to cover himself up on his way back.

"Idiot…"Jeice muttered, putting his head in his hands.

"H-hey…"Amy started quietly. "What's going on? What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you," the alien said and then paused when he noticed Jake was coming to.

"W-whoa," he mumbled, "I just had the craziest…ARG!!!"

"Crikey, calm down lad!" Jeice quickly said before Jake would pass out again from hyperventilating.

"Where are we?" Amy asked.

"At our secret base," a voice answered behind her. Amy turned around and came face to face with a boy about her age, perhaps slightly older. He was tall, had spiked, black hair and spoke English with a thick, Russian accent. The build-in translator that allowed players from around the globe to communicate in their own language, apparently was off-line.

"It's good to see there are still other survivors left, we were beginning to lose hope," a girl standing behind him said softly. She had long, blond hair, bright blue eyes and a gentle voice, but seemed somewhat shy. The boy put an arm around her as if trying to reassure her.

"Don't worry, Yvette," he smiled. "I won't let that thing get you, or anyone else here"

The girl, who's name made Amy suspect she was French, blushed slightly.

"Hey, you're up!" another girl, who walked in the room from the hallway said cheerfully. Suddenly, her smile faltered.

"Uh oh… you're white as a sheet, shaking and look like you're about to show us your lunch. Recoome forgot his towel again, didn't he?"

"Don't remind me," Jeice shuddered.

The girl rolled her eyes and slapped her forehead. She had short (and somewhat messy), green-dyed hair and glasses that framed a pair of mischievously sparkling hazel eyes.

"Hey," Jake started. "Why are you wearing those? You could've adjusted the visual settings of your helmet to compensate for your eyesight"

"Nah, they don't bother me. I've had glasses since I was a kid, and I aint changing my looks for nobody. People are just gonna have to accept me for who I am. My name is Madison by the way, but everyone here just calls me 'gunslinger' Tex," she smirked playfully, while patting the gun holster that was fastened at her hip.

"I am Boris," the Russian boy introduced himself, "and this is Yvette"

"Pleased to meet you, "the French girl smiled friendly.

"And I am… RECOOME!" the giant suddenly boomed while jumping out of the bathroom (clothed this time, thank Kami) and doing a series of elaborate poses.

"JEICE!" the other Ginyu joined in, back flipping through the room and striking a pose himself, flashing them a dazzling smile.

"Sorry about that," Tex apologised sheepishly, "Boris has not been able to fully reprogram them yet"

"I think it's kind of cute," Yvette giggled and then turned to the two teenagers.

"Hey, you haven't introduced yourself yet"

"Oh… sorry! I'm Amy and this is Jake," she said quickly.

"Nice meeting ya," Jeice smirked deviously, causing Amy to back away slightly.

"Don't worry about tomato boy, he's harmless, thanks to our very own Russian Bulma over here," Tex grinned, while slapping Boris on his back.

"You're… you're a hacker?!"

"Yes," Boris nodded. "But I only do it for the challenge, I've never tried to do any harm"

"But… hackers and computer specialists from all over the world have failed to break in!" Jake exclaimed.

"From the outside, yes," Yvette said, "but Boris is already inside the game"

'And he's quite talented," Jeice added, making the boy shift uncomfortably. He obviously didn't like being put in the spotlights. "Cell has put up some pretty tight security around the character profiles and their personality parameters"

"I'm hoping to get Challenge Mode Zarbon and Dodoria on our side next," Boris smiled slightly, his eyes gleaming with anticipation of the challenge, "but the higher the powerlevel of the character, the harder it is to hack into their design." The Russian boy sighed and slumped back in his chair. "I'm already having a lot of difficulty altering Dodoria's personality parameters. Zarbon is going to be much harder to do and I'm not even remotely _close_ to hacking First Form Frieza"

"Don't worry about it Boris, we know you can do it," Yvette kissed him on the cheek.

"What about the other members of the Ginyu Force?" Amy asked. "And why not just ask the good guys for help?"

"Most of the good guys have been absorbed by Cell, and the ones stronger than him have simply been erased from the server. I might be able to bring Krillin and Chi Chi back to life, but don't get your hopes up. It's going to take me at least six months to restore their character profiles… if I can ever access them at all. When it comes to security, Cell knows what he's doing"

"He does not have complete control over the game, but currently he has managed to take over about 80 percent, and Boris is fighting a losing battle to keep him from getting the other 20," Tex sighed.

"I can stall him, but it's only a matter of time until he breaks through my firewall," Boris stated grimly. "I can't outwit him forever"

"As for the Ginyu Force," Jeice started, "Burter and the Captain have already been absorbed. Boris managed to haul our asses out of Saga Mode just in time. We've been patrolling through the game ever since, searching for survivors of that bastard's killing spree"

"We aint gonna do much rescuing anymore though, now that we lost Guldo," Recoome sighed. "Guldo was the weakest of us in power, but ironically, he was the only one who could stand up to that creep"

"For a while, it was a very successful strategy: when we found someone being attacked, Guldo rushed onto the scene first and froze Cell in time, giving the others a chance to grab his would-be victims and get them to safety," Yvette nodded.

"But we couldn't save them all, and with every player that android absorbed, he grew stronger and it became more and more difficult for Guldo to keep him under control," Jeice continued.

"I guess this time, it was just too much for him to handle… poor guy," Yvette lowered her head.

"But… not counting Jeice and Recoome, I'm only seeing five people here," Amy said, starting to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"There use to be hundreds… but he found us…" Boris growled, the expression on his face turning extremely dark.

"Cell followed Radditz back to our old hideout and started absorbing everyone in sight," Tex told her. "He and Nappa tried to stop the android, but they were no match for him. We're the only ones who managed to get away"

"We're not going to give up," Boris growled, his fists clenched and his grey eyes blazing with rage. "We'll start over, save everyone we can, reprogram every game character I can get my hands on and build an army! I don't care even if I have to train myself… that monster is going down!"

* * *

Cell snarled when he laid his eyes on Guldo's broken neck. He had not expected the (normally very cowardly) alien to jump off the house… and not use his ki to break his fall. He had obviously been reprogrammed to make sure he would take the location of runaways' hideout to the grave. He wasn't too worried about the gentle natured Yvette or the trigger happy Texas girl. Boris on the other hand, had proven to be quite a nuisance. Cell made a mental note to make _his_ death especially painful. Again, the Russian boy had made him miss out on another meal, while he had needed it so badly! He cursed himself for letting them rest instead attacking right away. Worn out prey was no fun to chase, but now he was getting tired himself, and for his plan to succeed… he needed all the energy he could get. The android smirked evilly at the thought as he incinerated poor Guldo's remains and quietly disappeared into the night. 


	12. Ray of hope

**A/N** Oops, it took me a while to update… Sorry! I hope you enjoy this chapter, don't forget to review! I apologize if this one isn't very long or action-packed, but there will be plenty of that later! Stay with me!

* * *

**Chapter 12: Ray of hope**

"Ehm... no, I think I'll pass..."

Tex and Jeice both grinned and advanced on the poor boy.

"Ah, come on Jake, don't be shy!"

"Yeah, come on," Amy nudged him, "it'll be fun!"

Jake shifted uneasily but sighed and got in position.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Tex asked. "Here we go!"

"RECOOME!"

"JEICE!"

"TEX!"

"AMY!"

"eh...JAKE!"

"AND TOGETHER, WE ARE..." Tex tried to stifle her laughter, but failed miserably. Everyone looked at each others ridiculous Ginyu poses and started laughing as well.

"O-Okay," Jake choked, "I a-admit, that was f-fun"

"Hey, come on mate!" Jeice protested. "Being a member of the Ginyu Force isn't a joke!"

"Yeah," Recoome nodded, "we have to get our poses right, or no one will take us seriously"

"I-I 'm not even going to comment on that," Amy snickered, earning herself an insulted pout from Jeice.

"Tex," Boris called from the back, "have you seen... oh no, not again!"

"Don't mind him," Tex whispered to Amy, "he's just grouchy because Captain Ginyu out posed him in Challenge Mode... three times in a row"

"He did not!"

Tex laughed.

"He so did, and you know it!"

The hacker was about to retort, when they heard someone moaning softly. They all hurried to the living room where Yvette was sitting on the couch with her knees to her chest, shaking like a leaf.

"Yvette?" Jake asked carefully, "hey, are you alright?"

"He's attacking..." she whispered hoarsely, "he's attacking again..."

"Ooookay," Amy started, "anyone else creeped out here?"

"She... she does that sometimes," Tex said softly, the cheeriness in her voice completely gone. "Yvette has a gift"

"Curse is more like it," Boris growled, trying to comfort the shivering girl. "She can feel when Cell is on a killing spree and sometimes she can also sense where"

"That's how we used to find his victims," Jeice added. "But we rarely made it on time, though. We can't detect his powerlevel without our scouters, and Yvette could only give us a general direction. By the time we got to the scene..." he shook his head.

"And now, without Guldo, that thing is gonna mop the floor with us if we do show up," Recoome sighed.

"It's... over," Yvette whispered and fell asleep against Boris' shoulder.

"Dammit..." he clenched his fists. "DAMN YOU, CELL!"

He let out a string of Russian words from which Amy and Jake could only guess the translation and put his head in his hands. Amy thought she heard him sobbing, before Jeice nudged them out of the room.

"Eh, let's go, mates," the Ginyu said quietly while Recoome and Tex followed. "Let's leave them alone for a while"

"Man, he's taking this hard, isn't he?" Jake said when Jeice closed the door behind him. The Ginyu looked away.

"Boris has always been our leader," Tex started. "He saved hundreds of players with his hacker skills, but when that monster found our hideout, there was nothing he could do to protect them. He still blames himself for their deaths"

"He shouldn't," Amy growled, her temper suddenly flaring, "Cell killed my dad, but you don't see _me_ pulling a Mirai Trunks on everyone!"

"Amy!" Jake went bug-eyed at her rudeness.

"Don't even start! Boris is the only one who might be able to turn things around, yes? So, he shouldn't spend his time whining over a bunch of strangers when SOME of us have lost…"

"One of those 'strangers' happened to be his best friend," Jeice glared.

"And Radditz and Nappa got killed too," Recoome added.

"Don't forget Guldo," Jeice spat.

"As you see," Tex said, "you're not the only one who has lost someone"

"Well then, what are we waiting for?! Let's kick some roach butt!"

"Like you 'kicked butt' back at that house?"

Amy came to her senses and sat down, putting her head in her hands.

"I'm sorry I acted like that," she sighed, "I'm just…"

"Hey, we're all stressed," Jake patted her back.

"She's right, though," Boris suddenly said, standing in the doorway. "I took Yvette upstairs and put her to bed… Tex! Don't give me that look!"

The girl laughed. Amy watched in wonder. Apparently, pretending everything was normal, was the social code here. It was probably for the best: if they were going to face this challenge, it was better to do so without trying to depress each other before hand: Cell was already doing a pretty good job at that on his own.

"We need a battle plan," Boris stated, sitting down at the dinner table and motioning the others to join him.

"No offence, but you're nuts if you think we can fight that thing," Jake said.

"Not necessarily," Tex countered. "The power cap is not active at the World Tournament Arena. If we could lure him there…"

"We'd still get clobbered. That thing controls 80 percent of the game! If the arena is not part of the other 20, he can still cap our power all he likes! Besides that… I couldn't even defeat Frieza," Amy sighed.

"82 percent, actually," Boris spoke up. He showed her a device that looked like a PDA. The screen showed a bar, that was steadily progressing towards the 100

He hit a few keys, and frowned.

"Odd…" he mumbled.

"What is it?"

"He's been taking over bits and pieces of the Saiyan Saga, Frieza Saga and Trunks Saga, as well as most Challenge Mode levels and almost all of World Mode, but…" worry appeared in his eyes, "the Android saga and up have not even been touched…"

"Whoa!" Tex exclaimed. "This is Cell we're talking about! Out of all Saga's, why has he left the Android Saga alone?"

"Perhaps he doesn't think he's strong enough yet?" Amy suggested.

"Cell's strong enough to take down five android after absorbing all those players and game characters, and he knows it," Boris slammed his fist on the table. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Wait a minute… this is weird, but it's also great news!" Amy exclaimed, excited. "If the villains of those saga's have not been attacked or erased, the heroes might be safe as well! I'd like to see if Cell is still going to be that cocky against the Supreme Kai!"

"Or Gotenks!" Tex grinned evilly.

"They're the same height…" Amy mused, then jumped up. "KAITENKS!!!"

They fell over laughing, while Boris, Jake and the remaining Ginyu Force members just sweatdropped. This battle plan was going to take a while…


End file.
